Civilians of Gettysburg - The Innocent Victims

John Burns was a 69 year old veteran of the War of 1812. Some consider him a hero for he took his musket and walked to fight beside the Union troops on McPherson Ridge on the morning of July 1. He was wounded and became a national hero when he met with President Abraham Lincoln. He lived on Chambersburg St and his house is no longer standing.

Elizabeth Salome (Sallie) Myers was a 21 year old schoolteacher in Gettysburg. She said she could not stand the sight of blood, but found herself acting as a nurse to the wounded soldiers at her father's home and also in the Catholic Church. Sallie also provided food and nursing assistance at Camp Letterman Hospital after the battle ended.

Daniel Skelly was a teenager and a clerk at the Fahnestock Dry Goods Store on Baltimore Street. He helped tend wounded soldiers in different homes and churches in the town. Daniel said "The month of June, 1863, was an exciting one for the people of Gettysburg and vicinity. Rumors of the invasion of Pennsylvania by the Confederate army were fife..."[1] Daniel lived on West Middle Street and was one of seven children of Johnson Skelly and his wife Elizabeth.

Mary Virginia "Jennie" Wade was twenty years old and had just moved with her mother into her sister's house on Baltimore Street to care for her sister and her infant son. Jennie came from a poor family due to her father being in a state prison and then in the Adams County Alms House because of insanity. Jennie was baking bread on the morning of July 3^rd when a confederate bullet penetrated two wooden doors killing her instantly. She is the only confirmed civilian killed during the three day battle. She is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery on Baltimore Street.

Tillie Pierce was 15 years old and lived at 301 South Baltimore Street at the time of the battle. She was the daughter of James Pierce, a butcher. Tillie said "A crowd of 'us girls' were standing on the corner of Washington and High Streets as these soldiers passed by. Desiring to encourage them who, as we were told, would before long be in battle, my sister started to sing the old war song 'Our Union Forever.' As some of us did not know the whole of the piece we kept repeating the chorus"[2]Tillie when with her neighbor, Mrs. Schriver to her parents farm on the Taneytown Road, hoping to get away from the fighting only to find that she was right in the middle of it. She helped nurse the wounded and carry water to soldiers. Later in life, Tillie wrote about her experiences "What a Girl Heard and Saw at the Battle".

Anna Garlach was 18 years old and lived on Baltimore Street. She was the daughter of Henry, a woodworker; his shop was adjacent to their house. Anna states "In the retreat of the first day there were more people in the street than I have ever seen at any time...In front of our house the crowd was so great that I believe I could have walked across the street on the heads of the soldiers"[3] During the three day battle Anna took care of her baby brother, Frank, and helped her mother managed their house and soldiers there.

Josephine Miller was 23 years old and lived with Peter and Susan Rogers on the Emmitsburg Road. Peter Rogers' house was in the middle of the battle on July 2^nd; Josephine baked bread while fighting was going all around her. She refused to leave, wanting to bake the bread for hungry soldiers. During Pickett's charge on July 3^rd she still was baking bread. During a reunion on Jul 2, 1886, the veterans paid Josephine way from where she was living in Ohio to honor her for what she did for them during the battle.

Charles McCurdy was 10 years old and the son of Gettysburg Railroad president, Robert McCurdy. Charles talking about the retreat of the union soldiers past his Grandmother's house on Baltimore Street states "Soon they passed and individual Confederate soldiers appeared. but strange to say there was no organized pursuit. These soldiers began searching the houses for Union soldiers whom they thought might be hiding within. A posse stopped before the gate behind which my mother was standing and inquired:' Madam, are there any Yankee soldiers in your cellar?' "No, she replied, 'there are not soldiers in my house,' Two were concealed in my grandmother's and she knew it, but it was not her house"[4]Charles grew up in Gettysburg and became a bank teller.

Sarah Broadhead was 30 years old and lived with her husband Joseph and daughter Mary on the western end of Chambersburg Street. Sara spend much of the time in the basement of her neighbor, David Troxel. Days after the battle Sarah states "I am becoming more used to sights of misery. We no not know until tried what we are capable of"[5]Sarah and her husband eventually moved to New Jersey, and after her husband died, she lived with her sister in Rathmill, PA. She died on May 21, 1910 and is buried in Pleasantville, NJ.

These are just a few of the civilians that was caught between two major armies fighting to the death. They didn't ask for this and had no choice but to survive anyway they could. Some fled the town, some stayed hunkered down is their basements. Some gave aid and comfort to the wounded from both armies. All had their lives changed forever. No one was the same as they were before July 1, 1863; many lost all they had in worldly possessions. Almost none received any compensation from the government, most stayed, but some moved on, leaving behind what we in 2008 cannot come to comprehend of sights and sounds of human wreckage.

I often wondered how I would of reacted if I were placed in a situation like the civilians of Gettysburg. How would you have reacted?

[1] Firestorm at Gettysburg - Civilian Voices June-November 1863 by Jim Slade & John Alexander

[2] Firestorm at Gettysburg - Civilian Voices June-November 1863 b7 Jim Slade & John Alexander Pg 40

[3] Women at Gettysburg 1863 by E.J. Conklin

[4] Firestone at Gettysburg - Civilian Voices June-November 1863 by Jim Slade & John Alexander, Pg 64

[5] Firestone at Gettysburg - Civilian Voices June-November 1863 by Jim Slade & John Alexander, Pg 140